Opening Bell 6.20.18

The decision to drop GE, an original member of the Dow that has been a part of the 30-stock index continuously since 1907, marks the latest setback for a company that once was the most valuable U.S. firm but has been hit hard in recent years by the unraveling of its finance business and competitive problems.

With the departure of GE and the addition of Walgreens, “the DJIA will be more representative of the consumer and health care sectors of the U.S. economy,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, the company behind the Dow. “Today’s change to the DJIA will make the index a better measure of the economy and the stock market.”

The new bid rivals Comcast's $35 a share all-cash bid last week, in a deal that would be valued at $65 billion. Disney's new bid allows Fox shareholders to choose cash or stock. Disney said its new bid is valued at around $71.3 billion. Fox called the new Disney offer "superior" to the Comcast proposal made last week.

In a statement, Fox's Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch said, "We are extremely proud of the businesses we have built at 21st Century Fox, and firmly believe that this combination with Disney will unlock even more value for shareholders as the new Disney continues to set the pace at a dynamic time for our industry."

“When I first looked at that, it was stunning to me,” Russell said. A March TPG marketing document shows only 2 women among the 37 executives of TPG Capital. One of them is a partner.

“It isn’t that people of different ages, genders and ethnicity are better managers," Russell said to Coulter. "It is just that they have a view of the world that is broader. And companies can get into trouble without that diversity.”

LONDON (Reuters) - A former leader of London’s financial district believes Britain is unlikely to get generous access to the European Union financial market after Brexit, resulting in a loss of 75,000 jobs and 10 billion pounds ($13.2 billion) in tax revenue.

Mark Boleat, political leader of the City of London until last year, said that for mainstream banking and insurance, the most likely outcome of divorce talks is that Britain will be treated like other non-EU states, with no special access after any transitional arrangements have ended.

“So the worst-case scenario - which currently looks the most likely - is the loss of 75,000 jobs and 10 billion pounds of tax revenue,” Boleat says in a speech to be delivered at the Cass Business School in London on Wednesday evening and released to media in advance.

Previously, the same inmate was responsible for sparking a major security alert in Mountjoy Prison when he climbed on to the roof of the north inner city Dublin jail to collect drugs that were thrown up on to security netting.

On that occasion the inmate also “consumed drugs that had been dropped on the roof during the stand-off”.